99check wants to keep your kids safe with nothing more than a selfie

Snapchat is more popular than ever among the youth of today, and now, another app is looking to emulate the success of the ephemeral photo-sharing service to keep those youth safe. Meet 99check, described as “a simple utility for on-demand, selfie-based location-sharing between parents and kids.” With nothing more than a selfie, the smartphone-obsessed generation will be able to put their parents at ease. Because sometimes, calling to check in just feels like too much work.

To prevent users from feeling like they’re being watched, 99check is designed so that parents see a map in the app (and the locations from which their children send their check-in selfies), but the kids don’t have to. Much like Snapchat, the app opens straight onto the camera, allowing for an instantaneous selfie (which you know you were going to take anyway), and sends it on its merry way to concerned parties.

Also soon set to be released is a feature (again, inspired by Snapchat) that allows users to write text on top of the photo, adding some context or a funny caption before submitting it to interested viewers like mom and dad.

“The timing is right, as new generation of children is being raised now with the expectation of having a smartphone at an early age. We’re only beginning to figure out the right tools to allow parents some guarantee of their kids’ safety,” said Karim Mneimneh, co-founder of 99check. “Relying on the native location-sharing apps on iPhone isn’t enough. That’s where 99check comes in.”

Celebrating its official launch today, Menimneh says that his goal is to have 8,000 users in the first month, and 100,000 to 150,000 by the end of the year. And considering the gap in the marketplace, the co-founder says he’s optimistic about these numbers.

“No app out there caters to the in-between that most parents find themselves in — they’re concerned about their children, but don’t need to know where they are all the time — and to kids, who would want a way to reassure their parents without the embarrassment of a phone call or a text conversation,” he says. “And what better than a selfie for that?”

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